CHAPTER XXVI.
WHAT IT ALL MEANS.
Now, dear children, I suppose you have guessed all my riddles, for they are not hard ones; but I will tell you the meaning of one or two.
Life is the old fairy, that comes sometimes frowning and wretched, sometimes smiling and lovely, but always benevolent, always taking better care of us than we take of ourselves.
We should be silent, helpless dust, except for Life; and whether we be great or humble, rich or poor, she gives us all we have.
Though she may seem to smile on you and frown upon your sister, be sure it is not because she loves you best; the fairy may yet change into a wrinkled dame, or the dame to a beautiful fairy.
When you remember her, beware how you grieve or slight any one. If you are passing some poor beggar in the street, think, "Had I on Daisy's spectacles, I should see under all these rags a child of the great God, travelling on, as I am travelling, to live with him in the golden city above. While this man seems humble to me, angels may bow to him as they pass invisibly; for all the titles in this world are not so great as to be a child of God."
When you are tempted to vex or laugh at some old woman, think, "Under these wrinkles, lo! the great fairy, Life, is hid; and she can curse or bless me, as I will."